Sunday, November 19, 2017

When
Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything
you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come,
follow me.”

First, “Anyone who does not receive the kingdom of
God like a little child will never enter it” (15-17). Look at verse
15. While Jesus was preaching, some parents brought their babies to Jesus to
have him touch them. They saw that Jesus was a great servant of God, and they
wanted their babies to be blessed by him. But when the disciples saw this, they
rebuked them. Their idea was that Jesus’ time must be used for more worthy
cause than for children. But how did Jesus respond? Look at verses 16 and 17.
Let’s read these verses together:

16 But Jesus called the children to him and
said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the
kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17 I tell you the truth, anyone who will not
receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

Jesus welcomed
children and told his disciples not to hinder them from coming to him. Why?
Jesus says, “for the kingdom of God belonged to such as these.” He did not mean
that the kingdom of God belonged to the little children, but to those childlike
people. Then, Jesus proclaimed, “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not
receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” When they
are told, “We will go to Disneyland tomorrow for the family trip,” children are
so fascinated at it that they cannot sleep that night; they receive that news
so wholeheartedly; they think about it, talk about it and dream about it. They
are completely in it. Jesus says that anyone who does not receive the kingdom
of God like a little child will never enter it. What about those who say, “I
believe in Jesus,” yet, are not so fascinated at the kingdom of God? They will
never enter it. What about those who have attended many worship services?
Unless they receive the kingdom of God like a little child, they will never
enter it. What about those who have great Bible knowledge or those who have
PhDs in theology? If they do not receive the kingdom of God like a little
child, they will never enter it. What about the apostles? If they do not
receive it like a little child, they will never enter it. This is Jesus’
standard. Then, you can imagine what kind of people are the citizens of the
kingdom of God – all those who have been completely fascinated at the kingdom
of God and thereby, pursued it wholeheartedly. Some people may say differently
about who enter to the kingdom of God, but Jesus confirms this, saying, “I tell
you the truth,” meaning, “This is really true. Don’t be bothered by what others
say, but you can trust in what I say.”

Here, the
expression, “receiving the kingdom of God” is about how we respond to the
messages or news of the kingdom of God. Simply, based on Jesus’ words here, we
see that it is up to how we respond to the messages of the kingdom of God that
our eternal destiny will be decided – either the kingdom of God or somewhere
else. So, we must ask ourselves, “How do I receive the kingdom of God?” Do I
receive the kingdom of God like a little child, completely fascinated at it and
thereby, dreaming about, thinking about it, and putting hope in it? Or do I
receive the kingdom of God like a well seasoned politician, trying to analyze
it, or saying, “Later, I will think about it when I retire”? We must never
assume that we will go there as default, because we do this or that for God. We
must never take it for granted either. Instead, we must repent of all our
worldly desires and pursuit that divides our hearts from the kingdom of God.

Second, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”
(18-23).
Look at verse 18. A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to
inherit eternal life?” According to Matthew 19:22, he was a young man. In such
a young age, he was a government ruler and had great wealth. He got all we
dream about. When people achieve great things in their young age, usually, they
lose the direction of their life, become empty and then, pleasure-seeking. But
this young man was different. Even after such great success, he did not become
worldly, or materialistic or pleasure-seeking. Instead, he was a faithful
worship service attendant, never missing it, arranging all his schedule around
the worship service time, giving it his first priority above all his business
meetings and family matters. He kept all the laws and regulations
wholeheartedly, bringing his one tenth offering to God and doing other
requirements faithfully. He denied all his worldly and fleshly desires to keep
all these laws. Moreover, he did many good things such as serving food for
homeless people on special holidays or donating a lot of money for good cause.
He never cheated anyone, but he was honest and faithful. What a great man he
was! He was a role model for all young people in his country. Everyone praised
him. What was the secret of his great life? What made him live such a good
life? It was all because he was seeking eternal life; he did all these to
inherit eternal life. His sincere desire for eternal life made him overcome the
corruption of the world and become such a great person.

But the problem
was that, even after all these struggles, he still had no confidence in eternal
life. He was not sure if he had eternal life or not – when he honestly checked
himself out, he did not have it. He had done all the requirements – he denied
his own desires and fleshly passions; he took up all the required burdens by
keeping the laws and doing good things. But still, he did not say that he had
secured eternal life. The worst thing was that now, he didn’t know what else he
should do to inherit eternal life. He was lost. This man asked Jesus, “Good
teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” What an important question
this is! What must I do to inherit eternal life?” This is the very fundamental
question all people have. One lady was dying at the age of 93. But she said in
her death bed, “I don’t want to die.” All people want to have eternal life. But
how can we have it? Buddhist suggest that we have to sit in front of a wall for
20 years; many people followed this instruction; then, they went crazy, being
possessed by demons. Where is the way? What must we do to inherit eternal life?

Based on the question
this young man brought to Jesus, we can see his understanding of how he would
have eternal life that was, by doing good things. That’s what he had pursued
thus far, but all the good things he had done were not good enough for him to
inherit eternal life. It seemed that he should do something really good so that
he would inherit eternal life. This something good must be so big and would
require him to sacrifice a lot; but he was willing to do it only if he could
secure eternal life. But he did not know what that something good might be,
which would give him eternal life. He considered Jesus as a great servant of
God; it seemed that Jesus had eternal life; it seemed that Jesus had the
confidence in eternal life. So, he brought this question to Jesus. What was
Jesus’ answer?

Look at verses
19 and 20. Let’s read these verses together:

“Why
do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You
know the commandments: Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do
not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’ ”

“Why do you call
me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.” Jesus first
pointed out his mistake. Jesus showed him that no one is good except God
indicating that the young man too could not be good enough to inherit eternal
life by doing any good thing. Eternal life is not something we can earn through
what we do for God. With our own efforts or good deeds, we cannot buy it. Our
own righteousness is like a filthy rag compared to the value of eternal life,
or compared to God’s standard of righteousness. And then, Jesus said to him, “You
know the commandments.” When the man asked him, “What must I do to inherit
eternal life?” Jesus answer was: You know the commandments – “Why do you ask
me? You already know it.” The way of inheriting eternal life is in the
commandment. His point was that if he had kept the Commandments, he would have
had eternal life. Then, he came up with the second half of the Ten Commandment.

When we think
about this answer of Jesus, we can see that there is no secret or mysterious
way in having eternal life – it is plain and simple that everyone who believes
in God knows. Some people are so concerned about their eternal life; they have
no confidence if they have eternal life or not, even in Jesus. It is not
because they do not know the way to have eternal life, but because they do not
do what they are supposed to do. They don’t do what they know they must do, so
they have no confidence in God at all, but they are afraid and they live in
suspense. Do what God commands you to do, then, you will have the confidence in
God’s goodness for you and you will enjoy a beautiful life, even eternal life.
This man did not have the confidence in eternal life, not because he had not
done something really good, but because he had not obeyed God’s commandments.

But the man
said, “All these I have kept since I was a boy.” Was he telling a lie? No. That’s
what he really meant; his conscience testified for him. What a great man he
was. Yet, he missed the point. If he had kept the commandments, he should have
had eternal life; yet, the fact that he still did not have eternal life showed
that he had not kept the commandments. How did Jesus respond?

Look at verse
22. Let’s read this verse together:

22 When Jesus
heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have
and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow
me.”

Fundamentally,
there was a gap between his understanding of keeping the commandments and Jesus’
understanding of keeping the commandments. So, Jesus showed him how he could
really keep the commandments, saying, “You still lack one thing.” Wow! The
young man was almost there – just one more thing, and if he only did that one
thing, he would completely keep the commandments, and thereby would have
eternal life. Just one more thing – how close he was to eternal life! What was
that one thing, which he lacked? Jesus said to him, “Sell everything you have
and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow
me.” This is how one can truly keep the commandments – completely selfless
life. Keeping the commandments is more than restraining one’s action from doing
bad things such as adultery or murder or theft; rather, it is to not live for
oneself any longer, but for God and for others alone. Indeed, only by loving
God and loving neighbors with all heart, soul and strength can we truly keep
the commandments. In order to do so, we must sell everything we have and value
in this life so that our heart may not go to it, but to God and to people.

Jesus said to
him that only when he sold everything and gave to the poor, he would have
treasure in heaven. Once his treasure was in heaven, his heart would be there,
thinking about it, dreaming about it and talking about it day and night; he
would have real hope in heaven. Then,
what should such a person do? Jesus said to him, “Then come, follow me.” Those
people who sold everything have no hope in the world at all; the world is
simply not worthy of their time and energy; no meaning to spend their life for
anything in the world. Such people come to Jesus and follow him as his
disciples pouring out their time and energy, their talent and life for God’s
kingdom work – they are the ones who live for God and God’s flock; they are the
ones who love God with all their heart, soul and strength, and love their
neighbors as themselves.

How can we
inherit eternal life? Sell everything you have and give to the poor. Then come,
follow Jesus. This is the way to have eternal life. This is how we can truly
keep the commandments. What kind of people are these who sell everything they
have in this world for the kingdom of God? They are the ones who receive the
kingdom of God like a little child.

Based on today’s
passage, you see what kind of people gather in the kingdom of God. When you go
to the kingdom of God, you will see that all the citizens there have one thing
in common – they have received the kingdom of God like a little child, so
fascinated at it, and pursued it selling everything they had. In that sense,
they are one. I pray that we all may join in them as well. How can we join in?
By selling everything we have and following Jesus as his disciples.

Oh, when the
saints go marching in,

Oh, when the
saints go marching in,

Oh how I want to
be in that number,

when the saints
go marching in.

At this, how did
the man respond? Verse 23 reads: “When he heard this, he became very sad,
because he was a man of great wealth.” After many years’ struggle, finally, he
got an answer, and he knew what to do – just one more thing, and then, eternal
life. He was really close. But alas! There, right at the gate of the kingdom of
God, he turned away from it and went away sad, because he didn’t want to do
that one thing. He didn’t want to sacrifice what he valued – his wealth – for
eternal life, because fundamentally, he valued his wealth more than eternal
life. Between eternal life and his wealth, he chose his wealth. So, he failed
to have eternal life. After this, he would still go to worship service. But no
matter what he might do, he knew how he had rejected eternal life. What a
painful and miserable life it would be.

Here, we learn
how to keep the commandments, and how to inherit eternal life. We must sell
everything we have. If we value anything in the world more than eternal life,
because of that thing, we cannot keep the commandments, and we end up rejecting
eternal life to secure that something we value. Jesus says that we cannot love
both God and our own treasure. The Bible tells us that we must not love
anything in the world; if we love anything in the world, the love of God cannot
be in us. Sell everything you have; give it to the poor. Then, you will have
treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Jesus as his disciples, living to build
God’s kingdom on earth.

Third, “What is impossible with men is possible with
God” (24-30).
Look at verses 24 and 25. Let’s read these verses together:

24 Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is
for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! 25 Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

Many people
think that entering the kingdom of God is so easy – just say magic words, “I
believe in Jesus,” then you have salvation. But Jesus does not think so. In
Luke 13, we see a disciple asking a very important question, saying, “Lord, are
only a few people going to be saved?” Actually, this is the question so many
people have. At this, Jesus replied, “Make every effort to enter through the
narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able
to.” (Lk 13:23,24) Now in this passage, Jesus says that it is really hard for
the rich to enter the kingdom of God. Why is it hard? It is hard because they
have difficulty to give their money up; they have difficulty to sell their
wealth and give to the poor to secure eternal life. The more they have, the
harder it becomes for them to give it up. Even Jesus says that it is almost, or
totally impossible for the rich to enter the kingdom of God – a camel cannot go
through the eye of a needle.

At this, many
people may say, “I am okay because I am not rich; I am broke.” But having no
money does not mean that you are not rich. You may still have something you
value highly. All young college students are rich in future – some people have
promising future, while others have unpromising future; yet, all of them are
rich in future and they value it. To some people, their relationship with their
boyfriend or girlfriend is their treasure. They refuse to exchange it even for
eternal life – they turn down God’s call, God’s offer to secure what they
value. Indeed, it is hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of God.

Look at verses
26 and 27. Let’s read these verses together:

26 Those who
heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?”
27 Jesus
replied, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.”

At Jesus’
teaching of how hard it was for the rich to enter the kingdom of God, the
disciples were shocked; in their eyes, it seemed that there was no one who
could be saved, if such a high standard was applied. If people have to sell
everything they have to be saved, then, who will do that? They exclaimed, “Who
then can be saved?” Even that rich man who had pursued it wholeheartedly could
not accept the deal! At this, Jesus agreed that it is impossible for people to
be saved on their own. With man, this is impossible.

Then, isn’t
there any way for people to be saved? Yes, there is. Jesus says, “What is
impossible with men is possible with God.” With God, men’s salvation is
possible. With ourselves alone, we cannot secure salvation, because we cannot
sell everything on our own even for the sake of eternal life. But with God
helping us, with God’s intervention, we sell everything and follow Jesus.
Nicodemus knew that Jesus was a man from God; in his heart, he believed in
Jesus, but he was hesitant, because, if he exposed himself as a disciple of
Jesus, then, he would lose all his money, position and title in the society.
But when he saw how Jesus boldly died on the cross for God’s purpose, he was
deeply touched that he boldly exposed himself as Jesus’ disciple willing to
lose everything in the world for God.
When God’s inspiration comes to them, young people give up their career dream
and dedicate themselves to God’s work. When one word of God touched their
hearts deeply, doctors give up their secured life and go to poor countries and
live as Jesus’ disciples. When God’s inspiration comes to them, many people
turn to God decisively cutting off their relationship with their boyfriends and
girlfriends. This is what we all experienced – with ourselves, we were only
agonized, knowing what we must do, but without being able to do it – we were
really like this young man, knowing what to do, but not willing to do it. Then,
during Bible study or while hearing the message, one word of God touched our
hearts, and we were set free to turn to God and pursue Him. With God working
for men and helping them, men’s salvation is possible. With God, many people
sell everything and follow Jesus. God says in Isaiah 49:8, “In the day of
salvation I will help you.”

When we think about
this, we can see that we are the products of God’s work; we can say that only
by the work of God I am what I am. God knew each of us, saved us by intervening
into our situation, by giving us that perfect word for us, and making us turn
to him; then, he gathered us here together as a church for his special mission.
That’s why each person here in the church is precious. Let’s pray that God’s
work of salvation may be abundant at the conference.

Look at verse
28. Peter said to him, “We have left all we had to follow you!” It seemed that
until this time, Peter had a kind of casual attitude toward salvation, assuming
that he had already secured eternal life in the kingdom of God because he
worked with Jesus. But now as he learned from Jesus, he realized that securing
eternal life or salvation was far more difficult than he had thought – it
required real struggles, and it was impossible for men to be saved. Realizing
this, he wanted to make sure that he was saved, and he wanted to have a kind of
confirmation about it from Jesus. What was Jesus’ response? Look at verses 29
and 30. Let’s read these verses together:

29 “I tell
you the truth,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or
brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God 30 will fail to receive
many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life.”

Jesus fully
understood what Peter was talking about and gave his confirmation of not only
eternal life in the age to come, but also God’s blessings in the present life.
Amazingly, this confirmation is for all those who leave everything behind – when
you leave everything to follow Jesus, this confirmation is then, for you. You
will not fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come,
eternal life.

Jesus mentions
about several things we leave behind to follow Jesus – home or wife (husband or
boyfriend or girlfriend) or brothers (sisters) or parents or children. Home is
the place where you enjoy a comfortable life. To some people, this home is
everything they have and value. But for the sake of serving God’s kingdom, you
sell that kind of a comfortable life. To some others, wife – marriage dream or
happy family life – is everything. But for the sake of serving God’s kingdom
work, you sell that dream. To some others, parents are everything. Your parents
may have a certain expectation for you – maybe, some support emotionally, or
materially; or they want you to be successfully in the world. But as you live
for God’s kingdom, you cannot live according to their desires. So, they feel
abandoned or ignored – they feel sorrowful and betrayed; they misunderstand you
and even get angry at you; embracing all the pains and sorrows, you live as
Jesus’ disciples. To some others, children are everything. They want to make
sure that their children are amply supplied, loved and well educated. Maybe,
they had painful childhood or abandoned or mistreated; they don’t want their
children to go through such pains or sorrows. They want to make sure that their
children grow with beautiful parental love, so they struggle hard to spend time
with them; they want to purchase a house with big backyard so that their
children can grow with beautiful memory; they want to make sure that their
children receive best education, so, sending them to public schools is not
acceptable; so they sent them to expensive private schools. As their hearts go
to their children, what about serving God? They just go through the motion,
doing just minimum, considering God’s mission as a burden. When they live for
children, they cannot live for God. Jesus mentions about giving up this desire
for children – he fully understands humans. It’s painful. But for the sake of
Jesus and his kingdom, we deny this desire and serve God’s kingdom work. When
you leave these things to follow Jesus, He confirms with you that you will
never fail to receive many times (100 times according to Matthew’s gospel) in
this age and in the age to come, eternal life. It means that God blesses you
with a much better job than the job you
left; you come to have many parents who show deep concern for your wellbeing;
you come to have many brothers and sisters who share deep bond of love and
unity; you come to have many children who show deep love and respect to you and
obey you.

When we think
about Jesus’ confirmation of blessings and eternal life for those who leave
everything behind to follow him, we can see how much Jesus truly appreciates
them. He fully understands how hard it is for us to sell everything to follow
him; he fully understands all the pains and sorrows you have swallowed to leave
everything to follow him. And he appreciates fully what you have done and how
much you have done for him by pouring his blessings in addition to eternal life
in the age to come. He knows you. Isn’t this what you truly desire in this life
– Jesus knowing you and appreciating what you have done for you?

Today we learned
the way of eternal life. Let’s receive the kingdom of God like a little child
so that we all can enter it. Let’s sell everything we have so that we can have
true hope in heaven and live as Jesus’ disciples. When you do so, certainly you
will not fail to receive God’s blessings in this age, and in the age to come,
eternal life.